Bits: 1,017 games and counting

Alicia Butler has been going to Central basketball games since 1977. Every game. Home. Away. Postseason.

Alicia Butler has been going to Central basketball games since 1977. Every game. Home. Away. Postseason.

"I started going to these games when I was in grade school, actually," Butler said. "Since high school, though, we make sure we see them all. I just love watching the kids, it's all about watching them play and supporting them."

Butler's sidekick for some 1,017 games and counting? Her mom, Donna, who has been watching Central basketball for 50 years.

As for the 2012 version, they are confident where Central will end up.

"I remember the triple-overtime game we lost (in the state title game) to East St. Louis in 1989, and how agonizing that was," Alicia Butler said. "And I remember the back-to-back title we won in (2003 and 2004), the looks on their faces, the emotion they had.